Trek: The final act

Right... this is the final post about my trek to Nepal. An end to the story i began when i came home. To tie up loose ends. I'll try to keep this one short as possible but you know me, this could take a while so settle in with a wee cuppa tea...

For those that are still interested I thank you for reading. To those that are new to me you can check earlier blog posts from April and May for the story beginning here. The Journey

The last posting ended with my night in the Gomba Lodge, Upper Pangboche.
I'd had a good sleep that night, thankful for the warmth when i was feeling crap. Peter had set off with Mingma and the Doc to Ama Dablam Base Camp (hell i wasn't even fit enough for that!). Me, Carol and Daljit headed down the valley to Tengboche with Lackman and our Sirdar, back to that wonderful monastery that had given me comfort earlier in the trek on the way up. This was going to be a short day for us and i was glad. Short day didn't necessarily mean an easy day. We trekked for about 3 hours in total finally, steadily making our way up the slope into Tengboche at around 11am. We headed to the campsite which the porters were busily building and then decided we'd go to the bakery for a cake. After much deliberation I opted for a chocolate doughnut and a cup of tea and we took up our places at a table next to the window with the most magnificent views of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. You must be fed up hearing that but literally wherever you were the views were sublime. The mountains are where it's at! We sat there for about an hour and a half and then went back to campsite for lunch. With only the three of us there it really was a quiet lunch. I was thinking about the others, where were they? was Peter at Ama Dablam base camp? when will they get back?

After lunch Carol and Daljit decided to go for a nap and I went for a wander around Tengboche. I covered that story in this blog post: A Difficult Day

Later on Peter, Mingma and the Doc came back from a successful ascent of Ama Dablam Base Camp. Peter bringing me a piece of rock from there which now has pride of place in my room. He really enjoyed it and had some great footage on his camcorder. We all pretty much hit the sack after dinner and i was out like a light. I enjoyed this sleep as i had the tent to myself!! Bliss. I like camping. Having never done it before in my life previous to the trek i think i took to it like a duck to water. My bag un-packing and packing routine was down to about 15 minutes total each evening and morning. Not bad for a 80l bag.

Next morning I was woken by the sound of the bonging giant cymbal and conch blowing from the monastery. It really was a great way to wake up. We had breakfast and then set off for our very long walk back to Namche Bazaar. This was going to be tough as my fever was still a bit high. I wasn't being sick but felt flu-like. So first it was down the hill, zig-zagging behind yaks and porters going up and down the trail. This was fine apart from the dust and wind, but going down to cross the river also meant climbing back up again and that was painful. I put the sunglasses on, had my buff over my face to keep out the dust and my sunhat on. No-one was getting a look in. I thought head down Ange keep counting the steps, get into a rhythm, this'll be fine. We had a couple of water breaks as the sun was really strong today. We eventually made it to Kyungjuma for lunch but I was so so tired. Doc took my temperature - fever still there. I just sat there with hat and sunglasses still on closed my eyes and had a sneaky 5 minutes snooze. Lunch today was chips, spicy beans and eggs. I ate as much as i could and Doc decided we'd wait here for an extra hour so i could rest - that was an order! I had about 40 minutes sleep and actually felt a bit better for it. Outside groups of trekkers heading home were passing by, our group of porters had caught up with us even with their heavy loads of 30kg each to carry. And there was me feeling rubbish carrying a daysack! I'm ashamed.

We made our way along the trail back to Namche and got there about 4pm. A little later than we'd thought but this wasn't a race. I headed around to the pool hall with Peter to check emails - 200 rupees for an hour - fab! He waited on me outside the Internet area. He probably knew what it would be like to send/receive the emails having been there on our way up. I sat there and cried reading messages from friends and family. An Australian girl was checking her emails too, she was on the way up to base camp. First thing she commented on was my cough, I was hacking away like an old man. Wiping snotters from my nose. Trying to stay composed. It wasn't working. It was time to tell folks my bad news. I didn't know what to say but somehow found the words. I hoped that they didn't feel I'd let them down. Anyway my hour came and went all too quickly and we headed round to the campsite. Peter giving me some comfort after what was a really emotional day. I'm such a chicken-hearted person.

About 10 minutes later Team X-treme returned to camp after a very exhausting 12 hour/20km walk back from Pherice to Namche Bazaar - hence the name Team X-treme. It might not sound much but at that altitude it was terrific. I was soooooo glad to see them. It was fab, the group was one again. I have to be honest here and say i was really glad they were back but i was also really disappointed and a little bit envious of their successful mission to get to Everest Base Camp. It had been my mission, my intention, my dream and now that was all nothing. Tough. I had to fight back the tears in the tent when we were having dinner which for me was 3 bowls of garlic vegetable soup. I don' even like garlic!! My coping method - just don't talk. I seem to do that to cope with a lot of things. Don't know how else to do it to be honest.

We stayed at a lovely lodge in Namche that night and watched Everst IMAX movie on a 15" portable telly. Funny. The next morning i had a great shower and a fresh set of clothes. I'd been in the other ones for a few days and i don't think i smelled! :o)

Today was the last day of trekking - Namche Bazaar to Lukla. It started pretty cold and then we soon warmed up. It was lovely to have the group back together and i couldn't get enough of their stories of base camp. Along the trail we had several stops as Emma had turned her knee coming back from base camp. Late in the afternoon we stopped for Mars Bar and a Sprite in preparation for the final trek up the hill into Lukla. We passed back through the beautiful little villages, our first campsite at Tok Tok and over the many wire bridges. Lukla was reached. I'd forgotten this hill into Lukla was so steep, i couldn't remember coming down that far on our first day! Strange. Back in the Buddha Lodge now there was another conversation about helicopters out to Kathmandu as the weather wasn't looking great and we'd found out there had been delays over the 10 days that we'd been trekking. We were nervous. That night we had our leaving night with the sherpas and porters. We presented them all with tips and the cook had made us a cake! Then Team X-treme handed out Everest Base Camp rocks to those of us that hadn't made it. At the end Saran stood up and did a speech saying thanks to the sherpas, the Doc, the whole group and finally he said he wanted to present something to someone he'd enjoyed walking with who was determined and who he knew would make it to base camp one day. He said it was a rock he'd chosen specially for this person to take away and that it wasn't to keep... it was to be returned one day, and he knew that it would be. He gave it to me!!! I just stood up, cried and hugged him. I couldn't hold back any longer. It was such a lovely thing to do. I was grateful that he thought of me that way.

We all headed off to bed and hoped to fly back the next day. Of course the next day came and went and involved a short walk to the airport (which was located right next to our lodge), through the 'security', waiting in the departure 'lounge', then being told 2 hours later that it was closed, weather was too windy. Back to the lodge and some stress of discussions and packing of bags, trying to get rid of stuff I'd saved for months to buy incase we needed to jump on a helicopter and get he hell out of there. I decided the only thing I could dump was a black base layer, spare batteries and my toiletry/spares bag with all manner of things in it. I just wasn't prepared to dump my kit. I packed my rucksack with my Rab down jacket, my last set of clean clothes, some basic toiletries, water bottles and few other bits and pieces and prayed we would fly the next day. In the morning we were woken by the sound of twin otter planes flying in and out of Lukla airstrip - it was a huge relief. At breakfast we were all feeling nervous and hoping the weather would stay fine for us. It was looking hopeful, planes were coming in and out, we counted them. We timed them. There was at least one round trip to/from Kathmandu then they stopped. Would you credit it, Kathmandu had been closed now due to the fog!!! We couldn't believe it. Anyway after about another 2 hours planes started to come in again and we were off, headed back round to the airport. It really was an anxious wait. You could feel the tension in the air as it started to fill up - same faces we'd seen the day before. We were hopefully on phase 2 today. Lucky sea green tickets we had!! We played more games, ate lots of Pringles, told jokes, talked of what we'd done and then our call came. We were excited. But by the time we'd get to Kathmandu we'd only have 2 hours to sort our stuff, have a wash and head back to the airport for our international flight back to Heathrow.

We got on Agni airlines flight after they took an age to unload the cargo they'd just brought in. I'd counted the minutes. From the plane landing, unloading cargo, loading our bags, loading us it was about 15 minutes! If the cargo are people then I'd counted earlier in the day a 7 minute turnaround. These were the margins we were working on. The plane took off and i can honestly say I thought I was going to die. It was being hit by gusts of turbulence and was so scary. I never really looked out of the window as you could see it going up and down. It was the worst 27 minutes on a mode of transport in my life. I was never as glad to be back in hot, dusty, smoggy Kathmandu...

I won't detail our journey home. You'll have made your way through airports yourselves but I'll end the tale of my trek by saying it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. Yes... I am very very disappointed at not having made it to Everest Base Camp. It was my dream afterall. It means I have an excuse to go back! But there were many many highlights - too many to mention but some were seeing Mt Everest for the first time, that wonderful sanctuary that is the monastery in Tengboche, Ama Dablam - awesome mountain, meeting the great people on the way like Sir Chris Bonnington and Apa Sherpa, camping out was fab and I want to do more, waking up to wonderful views each morning, challenging myself on so many different levels and knowing that I can do things when I want to (but for illness) and finally meeting my fellow trekkers. They truly were a great group to trek with and it was a pleasure to meet them all. They helped give me one the most wonderful experiences I've ever had and for that i am truly thankful. A final mention goes to Saran, The Doc and Mingma - a better bunch you couldn't meet.

The trek has totally given me a new outlook on life. It's funny because you go off and do something like this and people ask you how it was. You reply great, awesome, wonderful, fantastic but somehow those words just don't capture the essence of it and you can't find the words to really exlpain it. The sights, sounds, smells, emotions, feelings. How do you explain it all to people that have no clue that to have a flushing toilet for 1 day was a pure luxury. I try but now some people seem to glaze over and, dare i say it, look bored when i talk about it. How very dare they!! I am still gutted at not having made it and I don't think people realise when I say how much it has affected me as I'm one of those 'just get on with it' people but i think it's manifesting itself in my constant urge to be outdoors now. To get up the hills. To be living life to the full more. To be 'doing' rather than not. Of course people tell me it was a great achievement what I did do and i know that but can't help having a little slight niggly feeling of failure like when your waterproof goretex boots start letting in water... utter disappointment.

To conclude: I raised £4000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. I can now say I've trekked in the Himalayas. I've seen Mt Everest. I'm somehow a changed person (sorry that sounds corny I know). To everyone out there who has played a part in my journey over the past year, no matter how big or small through sponsoring me, advice, encouraging me, listening to me go on about it all I once again say a final hugI Thank You. I hope you've enjoyed the journey, I know I tend to go on a bit in these posts but I can't help it... there I go again.

Ange xx

A Difficult Day

Apologies for not finishing the posts about my trek. I've been busy of late and it's difficult to recall what i never wrote down. The trip was awash with many different situations, meetings, fun times, sad times and all sorts of other highlights and lowlights that happened. I did however take some time out on my own to sit on the steps of the wonderful Tengboche monastery and collect my thoughts. Here you will find the exact account from my diary - no edits, nothing taken out, just straight from the heart.


Monday 13th April 2009

I'm currently sitting on the steps of the Tengboche monastery after seeking some time away from the group I've been left with. (Carol, Daljit, the Sirdar and cook team). It's around 3pm here (can't remember if my watch is 10 minutes fast or slow!) and we've had lunch and the others are having a nap. Peter went to Ama Dablam Base Camp with the Doc and Mingma and so he'll be back in a few hours


The totally devastating news is that I never made it to Everest Base Camp. I am totally gutted and there's been lots of tears. Saran took Kate, Ruth, Andy and Emma up to Gorak Shep yesterday morning and they should be making their way back down by now. Hope they made it ok. We don't even know if they'll make base camp. I am really gutted, words cannot describe it...

We lost 3 days at the start of the trek so that's why it's all gone Pete Tong! Then I went and got this stupid Khumbu Cough. I'm aching all over from coughing and cannot get enough sleep. Had a rough night last night with a high temperature but was allowed to sleep in the cosy Gumba Lodge at Upper Pangboche. The lodge owner was a very funny wee guy - but he snored all night! Mingma was laughing.


My view at the moment is a bit hazy. The clouds have come in low as in normal for this time in the afternoon. But behind me is the peaceful monastery, to my left is the view up the valley to Pangboche and above that on a clear day (but not just now) would be Nupste, Lhotse and Mt Everest with the magnificent Ama Dablam to the left of the vista.





In front of me in the distance is our campsite for the night (above). In front of a wee bothy type building where the cook and kitchen team are busy playing games and most likely preparing our dinner. The Tashi Delek Lodge and Restaurant is right in front of me as well as the Himalayan View Lodge.

Not many people are around, probably because the weather is closing in and quite frankly I'm freezin now!!! It's been a strange day. I can now almost touch the clouds they're coming in that quickly. Here comes a yak train, the bells around their necks ringing in a rhythmical fashion that is very soothing. It is interspersed with their owners huck-tooing and spitting out the dustiness from their throats. Of the very few people milling around is a guy wearing a red down jacket, shades and floppy mess of hair under his skip hat. He seems like he's looking for someone or something - aren't we all?


The reason for me not going to Gorak Shep is i developed this stupid cough in the dirty polluted Kathmandu air and as we've gone further up to the altitude it's unfortunately gotten worse to the point of losing my voice, wracking my ribs and having a high temperature on my way from Deboche to Dingboche (on Saturday 11th April). The route to Dingboche was very dusty. When we reached there at around 4pm it was pretty cold and the weather had come in. But you could see that back end of Ama Dablam peaking through. We went for an acclimatization walk up another 105meters or so to a ridge. That was very tough, i had to stop every now and again to take a deep breath, have a cough and perhaps even a wee spit!

After the walk we settled into the lodge for dinner and then came 'the talk'... about the next days plans - when the group would split!! We were going round and round in circles and things were getting a bit fraught. I was listening to everyones views. My view was that I wanted to go to Gorak Shep cos at least it would be closer to base camp. I'd planned this for a year! My dream wasn't going to be shattered by outside influences or other people! I would pay towards the cost of a helicopter to get to Lukla and worry about the cost later! I WANT TO GO! Of course these were the things that were going round and round in my head but they just didn't seem to come out of my mouth. Story of me really. I have conversations like this all the time in my head - like when someone asks you to do something or go somewhere and your heads saying 'no, no, no' but your mouth says 'aye ok then!' Get an effing grip Ange.... Anyway these thoughts were interrupted by my constant coughing and the conversation turned to the time it would take to get there and then back down to Lukla. The plan was to go to Gorak Shep, maybe to Base Camp (a big maybe), then head back down from there to Namche Bazaar. All in the space of 2 days. Yikes!!

And so it was decided that me, Kate, Ruth, Andy and Emma would set off for Gorak Shep in the morning with Saran. Peter, Daljit and Carol would head back down to Ama Dablam base camp and then onto Namche Bazaar with Doc. 'The talk' eventually ended but not without a few tears and a lot of tension. I headed to the loo and then to the sanctuary of the tent...

To all quite simply THANK YOU - namaste

So it’s just over 3 days until lift off.... The past year has flown by quicker than Jenson Button over that finish line in Australia yesterday!! It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride and there’s been some of the best times I’ve had. I’ve met loads of great people (some I’ve not met yet!!), been to loads of new places (with more still to visit) and taken part in loads of great activities: fundraising, swinging from the trees at Go Ape!, blogging, Friday lunching, climbing the hills of Scotland (plenty more still to do – but remember ‘I don’t have a tick list’!).... just lots of fun times...

With all of that in mind, I think it’s now time for some more thank yous to everyone who has made the last year possible and the future so very very bright! Here goes:

Mum, Dad, Karen (sister) and Ryan (the bestest nephew in the whole wide world!) – you’s are my everything Love you guy’s lots; my brilliant family too many to mention but you all know who you are; Linda for being always there and for listening to my talking about all manner of things, for your fantastic fundraising efforts, Christmas card making and cake baking and a true friend; Brigitte for your endless support, encouragement and a good friend; Donna a dear friend what more can I say, I’m just sorry we missed out on all those years but we’re making up for it now; Bernie for being a good friend and a long distance pen pal; Susan thanks for everything you are a great friend, a brill mummy and an inspiration; Andrew thanks for the very cool quiz night posters and for sharing your fantastic pictures on Flickr – they really are amazing (check his pics out here, taken with an old fashioned Holga camera); Olly M quite simply thank you, for your wise words, encouragement, fabulous films, great pictures and I’m glad I can now call you a friend; Kev, Chris, Ian H, Sharon, Ian Mc, Douglas, Louise, Vikki, Billie, Tara, Suzanne, Dorothy a great bunch of fantastic friends and workmates; to everyone at work in DASS that has sponsored me, bought my cakes, came to the quiz night, encouraged me, helped me and hopefully read my blog! – thank you all; Jackie O and the fabulous members of the Ochils Mountaineering Club thanks for taking me under your wings and up the mountains, yes ‘tis true people I am now officially a member of the OMC (I have a card and everything!!); Martin McGarvey a pal, a great source of information and still a huge inspiration – Good Luck in 2010 I know you will do it!; Michael for your wise words and your offer to take me up the hills – I’m holding you to that when I get back; PTC is that really your name! Keep writing that marvellous blog, your stories, foties and kit advice are great!; all the inspirational speakers I’ve heard over the past few months Simon Yates, Kenton Cool, Ian Parnell, Es Tressider, Kev Shields, Olly Metherell and Niall McNair - the simple words and fabulous panoramas you offer really do provide lots of inspiration to lots of people - keep it up!; Dave and Claire MacLeod I’m an avid reader of your blog and congratulations on the ever-continuing success of Echo Wall - a great film that even us non-climbers got hooked on within the first few minutes – inspiring!; Alison Culshaw, Claire Maxted and Tom Bailey thanks for taking me up a munro in the Cairngorms and giving some great memories and photos of the day (see Trail magazine Oct o8 edition); Jackie Johnson from Marie Curie Cancer Care, thanks for your help and encouragement; to all the lovely 4th year students who will graduate in June including Karen A, Andrew H, Frazer, David C, Nina, Matthew, Gwyneth, Gareth S, David P, Gemma, Alex S, Lyndsay H and everyone else so sorry I won’t be there when you guys hand in your dissertations but GOOD LUCK and you’re in safe hands at the office with Linda!; Paul Roberts at Terrevista Trails - thanks so much for the sleeping bag liner much appreciated; to Mark Beaumont the first person to really inspire me way back in early 2008 with his solo round the world cycle, it gave me a fire in my belly and compelled me to step outside my comfort zone, take on a new challenge and live life to the fullest that I can – Thank you, truly.

And finally to new friends Kate F, Ruth R, Andy W, Emma C and the other members of team Charity Challenge EBC 2009, can’t wait to meet you all!!

To all I simply say thank you... for everything.

Ange xxxxx

Pictures done on Wordle.net

More pictures and larger sizes here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ange77h/sets/72157616028845491/

Deep breath..... hit 'book now'... no going back!!!

Quick update to say it's official i have now booked my trek to Everest Base Camp, Nepal. Changed my mind and booked the April trek instead of the March trek. So upon confirmation of a few administrative questions I will be leaving on Friday 3rd April 2009 and making my way to the top of the world!!!!

I am doing it to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the target is £3250. I'll shortly be posting links to my online sponsorship page so please dig deep.

Stay tuned, more details will follow,
Ange xx

PS more training walks this week and gym work, then another hill next Saturday.